Anger Management
by Lightsider
Summary: After being grounded for the first time since moving into Wayne Manor, Jason hides away in his room. Dick isn't going to let his brother suffer in silence.


Dick counted to thirty after knocking on Jason's bedroom door. "I know you're in there, Little Wing."

"Go away!"

Shifting the tray he was carrying onto one hand, Dick pulled his lockpick out of his pocket. Sure, it might be a violation of Jason's privacy, but Dick knew his younger brother needed a pick me up, even if he didn't know it yet. Dick jimmied the lock and swung the door open.

As he suspected, Jason was tucked up into a ball on the edge of his bed. He lifted his head to glare at Dick.

"Go away!" He repeated, anger replacing preteen angst.

Dick offered Jason his largest smile. "I brought cookies and a listening ear." He held the tray with Alfred's freshly baked double chocolate cookies and a cool class of milk.

Jason eyed the tray. "Fine," he grumpily agreed. "You can stay."

Grinning from ear to ear, Dick joined Jason on his bed, setting the tray in the space between them.

"So… tell your big brother what's wrong?"

Jason snorted. _Mission Accomplished. _

"Drop the scary smile. I said you could stay."

Dick allowed his overeager smile to fade into something softer. "Come on, Jay. Alfred says you've been holed up in here all day."

Glaring at him, Jason replied, "Like you don't know."

"Let's pretend I'm not Bruce, and I didn't bug your room before just having a conversation with you."

Jason rolled his eyes, but Dick saw the smile he tried to hide. He sobered quickly though. "Bruce grounded me."

Dick barely bit down on his instinctual: _Is that all?_ Dick may be getting grounded every other week, but Jason had never stepped a toe out of line. But the original Robin did remember the terror he felt the first time he broke one of Bruce's priceless antiques. Instead he focused on the limited facts he knew.

"Because you punched Jimmy Salvi?"

"He deserved it!" Jason sprang to his feet, fists clenched at his side. Dick needed to tread carefully, so he wasn't the next one punched.

"What happened?" He asked, trying to sound calm.

"He was taunting Cindi, and I told him to pick on someone his own size."

"Before or after you punched him?"

Staring at the floor, Jason mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"As I was punching him."

Dick sighed. He was familiar with this. He'd done the same thing when he first started at Gotham Academy. Only, he hadn't been protecting someone else.

"Do you know why Bruce grounded you?"

"Because he's a hypocrite who cares more about his precious identity that justice."

"Okaaay," Dick dragged the word out. "That's not why. Come sit, and I'll explain a few things to you."

Jason crossed his arms over his chest. "I knew you'd just take Bruce's side."

Dick ran a hand through his hair. "No, I'm not taking Bruce's side. I'm just trying to explain. I got grounded for the same thing when I started at GA."

His younger brother snorted. "Yeah, right. The most popular kid in the whole school and probably all of Gotham got in trouble for fighting."

The comment lit Dick's admittedly short fuse. Dick shot up and confronted Jason. "I was a circus brat who had never attended school and spoke with a strong accent! Of course, I was made fun of!"

Jason eyes widened and then narrowed. "What happened?"

"An entitled rich idiot called my mother a gypsy whore," Dick spat, bitterness creeping into his voice and then regret. "I jumped him and broke his nose. I almost gave him a concussion, but Mrs. Williams pulled me off him before I could."

Lucas Strong had transferred schools following the incident. The chatter around Dick being a dangerous gypsy and damning choice for the billionaire Bruce Wayne circled loudly. Dick had even run away once convinced that the media was right. He was a bad egg that would destroy Bruce and Alfred.

Jason's mouth fell open, and Dick laughed at the comedic image of his younger brother despite himself. "Close your mouth, Little Wing. You know I have a temper."

"Yeah, but I've never seen you take a swing at Bruce."

"Because I've learned that using my fists isn't always the best form of communication."

Jason scoffed, "Except when we're in costume."

"When we're in _uniform,_" Dick corrected. Robin wasn't a game. "We're fighting criminals. People who made a decision to break the law and may be a danger to the public. School bullies, on the other hand, are idiots who need a lighter course correction."

"Bullies hurt people!" Jason exclaimed, clearly incensed at Dick's ignorance.

"I'm not saying they don't," Dick backtracked quickly. "I'm saying there are better ways to handle it."

"Like what?"

Dick grinned. "Well when Judy Patkins started spreading rumors regarding Millie Westerton, I got photographic evidence that Judy was the one who had cheated on Brad. Then I hacked into the school's computers and made sure the photo was the first image on all the projectors that day."

A small smile grew on Jason's face. "And it was never connected to you."

"Of course not," Dick replied. "I'm not saying you have to let bullies get away with it. I'm saying that there's usually better ways than violence. While satisfying, throwing punches often gives you the bad name."

Jason nodded thoughtfully. "What happened to the kid you beat up?"

The glint of protective fierceness in Jason's eye was exactly why he hadn't given Jason a name. "He transferred to a different school after his father received a new job in a different state."

Jason made an unimpressed noise. "And how much of that was Bruce?"

Dick didn't respond just grinned. Jason rolled his eyes. Dick didn't wait for him to complete the full eyeroll before closing in on his brother. One second Jason was mid-eyeroll. The next he was engulfed in a Dick Grayson hug. Jason immediately squirmed to be let loose.

"Ugh. Get off me! Get off!"

Dick hugged tighter. "You know how to get out of this, Little Wing. There's only one way."

"I hate you," Jason said but hugged his brother back.

Dick let Jason go and ruffled his hair. "Love you too, Jay."

**Author's Note: Delfis requested Dick and Jason bonding. **

**This is the very last fluff prompt. My focus will be on And Here You Are Living from now on.**


End file.
